Donald Trump denies knowing Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool contractor
By: Mallory Wilson (The Hill)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Trump said Tuesday he does not know the contractor that is renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after previously saying he spoke to a man he knew about it.
Restoration of the basin has drawn criticism for the cost of the no-bid contract and the president's vision, which includes a paint in the color of "American flag blue."
The project, which Trump first mentioned last month, was awarded to a Virginia firm, Atlantic Industrial Coatings. The work is being done to coincide with the nation's 250th birthday in July.
The president on Truth Social added that he did not give out the contract.
"Also, I didn't give out the contract, 'Interior' did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before," Trump wrote in a post that was criticizing a New York Times story that discussed the rising costs of the project.
But Trump said in the Oval Office last month that he had a "guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools."
"He looked at it. He called me up. He said, 'Sir, we can do something on it,'" Trump said while discussing the planned renovation.
A White House official told The Hill on Tuesday that the contractor for the Reflecting Pool has been involved in several of the beautiful projects in the District.
"While the President does not have a personal relationship with this contractor, as a private citizen and builder, he was familiar with the company's previous work," the official said.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers reiterated that the Interior Department "contracted the company to stop the leaks and restore the Reflecting Pool to its proper glory."
"The restoration effort will be completed ahead of America's 250th celebrations and for a fraction of the cost that the former Presidents Obama and Biden squandered only to worsen its condition," Rogers said in a statement.
The work was originally estimated to cost $1.8 million. On Monday, the New York Times cited federal records showing the actual cost has jumped to an anticipated $13.1 million.
The Interior Department reportedly added $6.2 million to the previous cost of the no-bid contract on Friday.
Trump, in his social media post Tuesday, defended the project, saying the Reflecting Pool is "an embarrassment" to the city and the country, and described its appearance as a "total mess for all to see."
"I worked with our now strong Department of the Interior and explained to them that we should view this as a highly sophisticated swimming pool, not the leaking, dilapidated facade, joints and all, of a building," the president wrote. "Instead of taking 4 years to build, at a cost, granite pavers and all, of 400 Million Dollars, we could construct a far superior Reflecting Pool for 5 or 6 Million Dollars, and could complete the project in 2 weeks rather than 4 years. What a difference in time and money, and for a far superior end result!"
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He knows him but he doesn't know him.
What's Trump's going rate for kickbacks these day?
f'n dumb ass trump could've had eric, junior, and barron fill the pool with paint from home depot for way under $13 million. no bid contracts and inflated prices. nothing to see there, right maga?
How soon before we find out that Uday and Qusay are suddenly new investors in Atlantic Industrial Coatings?
that's one way to hide the massive kickback. 2 no show, no work jobs for the defective spawn of the maga fuhrer ...
"He looked at it. He called me up. He said, 'Sir, we can do something on it,'" Trump said while discussing the planned renovation.
Here is the tell that Trump is once again full of shit and lying as usual - “Sir” is only a word that pops into Trump’s imagination every time he describes some imaginary conversation he has, because it implies that every person who ever speaks to him is willingly subservient to him. It’s a detail that 99% of humanity would omit, but he can’t help himself from throwing it in to fluff himself up.
Am I the only way who is going to scream...IT'S NOT A SWIMMING POOL!!!!!!!!!!!
... you're right, it's too shallow. it's a kid's wading pool, that can be seen from the oval office ...
AHA! Now we know what his nefarious purpose is
O good, Howard Lutnick can now get a lifeguard job.
The problem of course is twofold:
With a normal PotUS, we would see this as preparing for the 250th celebration and think nothing of it. But we have a lying, cheating, convicted felon scoundrel as PotUS.
The cost, however, is outrageous. This cannot be merely to paint the pool.
trump's willfully ignorant supporters will gloat when he announces it came in under budget, after he pockets in kickbacks twice what the job really costs ...
It is just another instance of Trump saying the quiet part out loud, without shame, without any sense of much of how much of a moron he is painting himself as. This is the guy who claims to have an art for making deals, which he does - it’s just that the deal never has anything to do with getting the best proposal for the best quality work and everything to do with maximizing graft in the most public way possible.
And he thinks he's great at interior design.....
He is great at inferior design. His specialty.
look at this mess! LOOK AT IT!!!!!!!!!!!
how much do you want to bet that the pool labor is undocumented?
sucker bet
trump probably wants to start painting the marble trim gold on all the monuments and gov't buildings in DC next ...
A blue pool is what all Americans are clamoring for.
I mean, the outcry from MAGA for a new golden ballroom can be heard around the world, they joyfully support allowing their high tax dollars paying a billion dollars for this magnificent ballroom they will never use.
Soon MAGA will be having the ballroom embroidered on their red hats. Maybe they will also get golden trim for their hats.
How about new hats with Trump's copycat project of the French "Arc de Triomphe" planned for DC and MAGA at the top of the arch.